Litigation Lawyers in Wayzata

"Civil procedure" refers to the wide variety of rules that govern the process of civil litigation in Wayzata, Minnesota. It does not deal with the substantive rights that the litigation system is meant to protect, just the process by which it protects them.

Wayzata, Minnesota's government strives to make the civil justice system fair, efficient, and accessible. The rules of civil procedure are designed to advocate those goals, to the greatest extent possible.

In Wayzata, Minnesota, civil litigation is often extremely intricate. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that the rules of civil procedure can also be fairly confusing. After all, they govern everything from the first document filed by the plaintiff, to the last ruling issued by an appeals court.

Major Wayzata, Minnesota Civil Procedure Issues

Complaint: The first, and perhaps most important, part of filing a lawsuit in Wayzata, Minnesota is the complaint. The complaint is filed with the court in Wayzata, Minnesota that's responsible for handling civil trials. It lists everything that the plaintiff (the person who is suing) alleges against the defendant (the person the plaintiff is suing). Typically, but not always, the end of the complaint will contain a "prayer for relief." The prayer for relief is simply a statement of what the plaintiff is asking the court to do to remedy the harm that the defendant allegedly caused.

Answer: The answer is a document filed by the defendant, in response to a complaint. The answer typically contains a few things: normally, it denies most of the allegations made by the plaintiff. If it does not deny the factual assertions in the complaint, it will typically raise legal defenses, known as affirmative defenses, arguing that even if everything the plaintiff alleges is true, the defendant should not be held liable, because of extenuating circumstances.

Discovery: The civil procedure rules in Wayzata, Minnesota were written with the purpose of, among other things, avoiding surprises. For that reason, everyone engaged in a lawsuit goes into trial with a pretty good idea of what evidence the other side has. This is largely because of the discovery process, during which the attorneys for both sides are required to disclose (with some exemptions) all information relevant to the trial which they have in their possession. These disclosures come in multiple forms, such as simply sending boxes of documents, deposing witnesses, or submitting written questions to the other side, which the recipient is obligated to answer under oath.

Trial: It's quite rare for lawsuits in Wayzata, Minnesota to go to trial. Wayzata's civil procedure rules truly discourage trials, and alternatively have designed the system so that it's almost always more cost-effective to settle out of court. However, if this is not possible, the matter will go to trial, where a judge and/or jury will determine the factual questions, and then award the appropriate relief (if any) to the prevailing party.

How Can a Wayzata, Minnesota Lawyer Help?

If you're facing a lawsuit in Wayzata, Minnesota whether as the plaintiff or defendant, you will have to deal with your jurisdiction's civil procedure rules.

It should go without saying that you should have a Wayzata, Minnesota attorney on hand to deal with any civil procedure issues that you're almost certain to face, if you're engaged in a lawsuit.